Freedom Valu CEO Dies In Motorcycle Accident

David B. Erickson, CEO of the 60-unit Freedom Valu Center c-store chain, died July 28, in a motorcycle crash in Montana, the company reported.

His motorcycle drifted off the right side of the road and over an embankment, Montana Highway Patrol said in published reports. Erickson's wife, Debi, also was on the motorcycle at the time, and was treated for minor injuries, according to the statement. Both were wearing helmets, and alcohol and speed were not factors in the crash, police said in reports.

Freedom Valu is a family-owned company with locations in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area, Wisconsin, South Dakota and Michigan. David's father, Claire Erickson, and grandfather, Herman Erickson, bought the family's first gas station in Red Wing, Minn., in 1950.

In March 2009, David Erickson's parents, Claire and Betty Lou, were found dead in their home in what was ruled an apparent murder-suicide.

David Erickson said at the time that his father hadn't been feeling well and worried his wife, who was diagnosed with Alzheimer's, would have to live in a nursing home if anything happened to him.